


Daddy Always

by jubjub



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: (Lapis and Peridot are not related by blood, ), Angst, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pseudo-Incest, no daddy kink., this is not a daddy kink fanfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-21 20:50:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18147254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jubjub/pseuds/jubjub
Summary: Lapis is only small when she goes on an adventure that separates her from her "normal life", and when she has to return to normal, so many things are different. Too many things. And falling in love is not something she needs to be doing.





	1. Warm fireplace, Cold water

On a cold winter night, rain had fell during the day and left the house lifeless, mommy had left in a hurry.

a small fireplace sat in the living room, not unlike the child beside it, neither moved much, both warm and waiting, waiting for him to come home so they could sleep.

Daddy opened the door as he usually does, huffing warm air that looked so much like how a dragons breath might look in the cold, like puffs of smoke that hid secrets and told stories, scuffing his shoes against the matt, he looked downwards towards the fire.

That was not how daddy usually came home. Usually, he would look into her eyes and smile till his eyes wrinkled, and his beard would rise a little on his face and he would grumble a small chuckle.

Usually they would speak for a while and wait for mommy to come home, Daddy would always remember her goodnight cuddle.

But tonight daddy just shook his head and knelt down, leaving her to bound towards him in curiosity, till daddy finally spoke in his gruff voice; "Tie your shoes quick, daddies don' somethin' bad" and though he sounded like he did when he was mad, he smiled warmly at her before he whispered quietly "In God we trust," and helped Lapis to put her wellingtons on.

He told her to wait right there, before he trod slowly up the stairs, leaving only her and the fireplace which she quickly hushed and put her small finger at her lips and hissing, to tell it not to give away their secret.

"tattle tails are not very nice!" she whispered into the dead air, the fireplace only cracked and cackled in response, surrendering to silence in comparison daddy's large strides creaking down the stairs once again. He silently opened the front door, picked Lapis up and made a getaway on their old rusty family bike,

"Not scared are ya, Lappy?" he chuckled as he sat her on the seat and put her hands about his waist before cycling off after a vigorous headshake 'no' from Lapis "Good, we're gonna' have a tonne of fun!" he shouted into the air, though it was biting Lapis's small hands and ears, even making her nose go a little numb, she smiled wide, daddy was never this excited.

Though the streets were alight with golden rays from lamps, there was no warmth, which seemed to radiate from his back, which she'd have to switch which side of her face she warmed up each few moments to keep her ears from going numb, the glow of the streetlights got strangely muffled by fog as they entered down a cramped street she'd never seen before.

But soon her father had slowed down and put her small hands in his pockets, which had warmth residing inside, before telling her he'd go a little slower so she could keep warm since they'd be there soon.

 

* * *

 

 

And daddy didn't lie, so soon Lapis was lifted off the bike before it was left to lie in the street, though now the street only had houses on one side of it, and her father started towards the other side, before stopping abruptly and puffing out one of his dragon breaths,

"You know where'a we are kiddo?" Daddy smiled, "Look, see," he lifted his large open palm, and swinging it over the scene, "By the ocean."

Lapis took a moment to move her eyes from the large palm and stare out into the area, which suddenly enchanted her, she was awed, the way small stars glittered above in the sky, but still couldn't compare to the ocean below them, which was glistening under the light of the moon. Before she could stare too long his voice drifted into the air once again "But see here, we gotta walk through all this mud fore' we get to the real surprise Lappy!" setting on his walk straight into the grass that lead to the edge of the water in the distance...

 

The grass swayed and moulded under the footfalls of small wellingtons, whilst trees whistled into the night, small hands wandered to grab the swaying coat in front of them as plea to the cold, her grip answered by her fathers large warm hands gripping them and a booming voice that came from under a greying beard that asked the small cold child to 'hold daddies hand'.

Though the night was seemingly unending before them, they soon came to what was the end of grass and the beginning of water. "Here," daddy gestured to something almost darker than the sky moving in the night, "there she is."

And suddenly the way Lapis had briefly missed the small fireplace that would usually be sitting with her right now and the warm blanket she might be getting wrapped in, was all forgotten.

The smile that spread across her face could maybe even compare, the way her whole body almost felt warm again, as sails luffed towards them, "There's daddies boat!" He cheered, and suddenly he looked down, right at her and said, in the gruff way he does "We won't be coming back." And for a moment, Lapis isn't sure if he was sad because his large beard covered his face, or maybe because she can't see well enough in the dark to see if he has wrinkles around his eyes, but she doesn't feel sad herself. So she simply smiles.

"We'll be okay daddy."

He chuckles and looks back out on the foggy water, "Yeah. We will."


	2. Chapter 2

She cant even hear her Harold or Quentin below deck,  _too early even for the crew to be awake huh?_  Waves lap gently at the edge of the boat, tempting Lapis to jump into the waters beneath to avoid this whole scenario.

"I don't see why I should go back."

"Ahah!" Her father laughed, "Of course you see!"

Lapis just peaked over at her father in curiosity, "What do you me-"

"You see these ere' waves? They go back, they go forth, they go where the wind take em'." He said gesturing out "Now, I was a bit wild in my younger days ay, Took ye with me, but I sure as hell ain't strong as the wind! ..And the winds takin' you back."

Lapis knew what he was doing, he often looked mad at himself for taking her away from her mother, she never regretted it and wished she could sail the ocean for the rest of her days. He is trying to make up for it somehow. "And I wanna stay here."

"Ah see, you 'wanna stay', that's what'ya say anyway, but'ya know that you gotta go."

Lapis laughed "You're talkin' a load of codswallop. Baloney. Bullshi-"

"Lapis." He chuckled, "you'll be gone soon, don't make me only have memory of your foul mouth!" He turned the steer slightly before tying it with rope "The wind is takin' you home."

For a moment, Lapis wondered "You're a criminal back in Hawaii, no way you're actually gonna sail right in there,"

Her father winked at her and let out a chuckle "Nae, you're right. I'm not."

"Oh?"

"You're gonna' swim a little, over to a friends boat, since I ain't gonna cross no borders, my friend was a coastguard, says he still is." he paused to look out onto water once again, and his tone turned serious "I jus' keepin' my distance in case he's wired. Y'know, lettin' the police know about it or somethin'."

Though Lapis laughed.. she was scared, her father had always said she'd be okay without him, and had always assured her she was strong, but when faced with the new path she was suddenly a child all over again. She was almost tempted to ask if she could hold her father's hand.

"Well doesn't this sound fun,"

Her father just smiled at her sarcasm and ignored it, "T'will be! Look ere' you can't jus live on the sea, on the run, you didn't do nothing wrong. I did, I just didn't wanna leave ya."

"I know."

"So you're goin' home while ya still can! You just about that age for uh, them first qualifications," Her father had always encouraged her to study. So much so that they had built a small Library in the hold he would often refer to as her classroom, smiling at the memory Lapis felt a little sad she had to leave the little library.

"I better do well. Been doing nothing but study and sail all these years" Lapis laughed emptily, "...I really would rather stay and do that some more." Lapis almost went on to say something else before her father turned his head at a jarringly slow speed and sighed at her,

"Oh kiddo, it's my turn to tell you 'I know', but I'm old now, you 18 next year, I'm turnin' 49 next year, so I got another 20 years to see ya at least, so go get yourself a half decent life for me won't ya?" he stated in a way that made Lapis sad, like he was writing his own will. But she didn't have anything to say in response, so she just shuffled closer and watched the boat get closer to her new "home".

 

* * *

 

 

That's how Lapis ended up soaked, on some boat owned by the strangest man she's ever met, all he's done is nod and point to his name tag "Yellowtail" which would have been unsettling, though the comfort of waves crashing around the boat and a lack of other coast guards steadied her, when he suddenly picked up a phone and right before Lapis is about to scream for her father to get away, he turns the screen that reads "Mrs. Lazuli" towards her and pushes it into her hands.

For a moment she considers screaming anyway.. or jumping off the boat and swimming to whatever land she finds first or her fathers boat, which is still in viewing distance, but her whole body is stiff, and her hands have curled around the phone and left her in a state of paralysis. 

Yellowtail's blank stare and deadly silence is filled only by the roaring of the water crashing into nearby rocks, she realises she's bitten by a sense of cowardice. Her chest is tight and her throat is no better, closed up in the same way it might if she had swallowed salty seawater, but with none of the reactive coughing to get it back out.

So she closes her eyes. She hasn't spoken to her mother since she was 10 years old. She misses her. Even though she didn't remember much, and her mother didn't always recall Lapis's cuddle goodnight or have talk each night with her as her father would, Lapis still missed her. That longing had been buried for years, last revisited long ago, when she was small, maybe 11 or 12. 

Her finger moves to the call button and she breathes. Pressing it meant speaking to her mother...pressing it meant going "home". 

She pressed it without thinking and waits for the answer, waiting through the beeping, her heart almost making it hard to hear past the blood rushing in her ears, almost too hard to hear a strange robotic version of her mother responding with a soft "Hello?"

She breathes again and lets the seawater bubble up from her throat, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey ma"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short short chapter. :) 
> 
> Bonus point if you knew which SU characters Harold and Quentin are, sorry we don't get much character building for them, let me know if you'd like a chapter of Lapis's childhood on the boat.


End file.
